First appeared - january 31/04
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Beginnings Introductions are in order. My name -- Russell Jones, my role in viruszine thus far -- website backend work. Up until this moment I've assisted solely in the creation of the VirusZine website, however, I felt that it would be fun to be an active member of the writing staff as well. This is my first column, and also marks my introduction to Zines in general. I'm a huge fan of music, rap in particular. I'm assuming that anyone reading this is now turned off by my presense, as I do not foresee much room for the rap genre in VirusZine. Before you decide that I should be the subject of a stoning, I will tell you a little about my past listening habits. As I recall the shards of memories of my past, I can faintly hear Alvin & The Chipmunks singing, "The Chipmunk Song". While on the other hand, I was a huge fan of David Wilcox, which is altogether quite different from those Witch Doctor singing Chipmunks. From there I went on to listening to a lot of Rush and Iron Maiden, Megadeth and Metallica. My bedroom walls were covered in Iron Maiden posters, starring Eddie, who my mother hated with a passion. I guess you can say with the exception of Rush, those were my metal days. Then came a point when I slid from metal to punk, spending my free time listening to the likes of the Dead Kennedys and Sex Pistols. If I remember correctly, my mother wasn't impressed with them either. But when do mothers understand the likes and dislikes of teenagers? Around the mid-nineties I had started watching a lot of MTV and began following the grunge movement of that time. Groups such as Pearl Jam and Soundgarden dominated my air waves. In '94 I longed to attend a Lollapalooza, which my mother (there she is again) deemed inappropiate for a 14 year old boy. Only in '95 did I realize that the only way to convince her to allow me to attend such an event was to lie till I was blue in the face. For all she knew I was attending the concert with a nun and a priest, along with 10,000 other churchgoers (note: i'm exagerating big time, I told her my friends mother was going with us). Taking a step back, I remember clearly the first time I heard Nine Inch Nails. I was tripping on mushrooms and drinking rye on the edge of a rockcliff, watching my idiot friends punching each other in the face because they thought it felt good. It wasn't until the late nineties that I really got into rap. It all started with Insane Clown Posse, they were my "gateway group". ICP isn't your typical rap group, and if I remember correctly they are more accurately described as Horror Rap. In the early to mid nineties I listened to my fair share of N.W.A., 2 Live Crew, Snoop Doggy Dogg, etc... but apparently punk or grunge held more sway over me. If I were to walk out to my car right now and listen to the CD in my deck, I would hear a mix with the likes of G-Unit, Marques Houston, Fabolous, E-40, and more. I'm not a closed minded individual, and because I prefer to listen to rap, don't assume that I won't like something else based solely on the fact that it isn't rap. I listened to Shania Twain's first album a hell of a lot when it first appeared. When I was 16 and telling people I liked Revolting Cocks, they thought I was just coming out of the closet. I've always been between the mainstream and anti-mainstream. This has never been a conscience decision, for I refuse to like or dislike anything based on the fact that it is popular or not. I like what I like and I don't give a fuck what anyone thinks about it. Peace, we out for the '94, Russell Jones |
